We are open for Upick starting Sunday, September 3rd and going through Sunday, November 5th. Our hours are Monday through Friday, 10am-5pm and Saturdays and Sundays 9am-6pm.

Nope! You only pay for what you want to pick (and of course any baked goods or gift items you’d like to take home).

No! You only purchase what you want to bring home. For some families, they prefer purchasing a bag for everyone in their party, others prefer to buy larger volume bags that everyone can pick into together. Up to you!

At LynOaken Farms, we are conventional apple growers; we are not organic growers. However, we'd like to clarify a couple of things...

Organic growers can and do use pesticides. It’s a common misconception that “organic” means “no spray”. Organic growers face the same insect and disease pressure that conventional growers do, and often a pesticide is the best (or only!) defense against these damaging factors.

Certified Organic growers often spray to protect their crop just like conventional growers do- the difference is that they cannot use products (fertilizers and pesticides) that are synthetically (manmade) derived. Pests don't discriminate between organic and conventional growers!

Because our growing season is both warm and humid, there are many insects and diseases that are not well managed with organic pesticides. Unfortunately there are several insects and diseases out there that can not only wipe out a whole season’s crop, but they can kill acres of trees as well.

To ensure a harvestable crop, we use the best and most precise options available by following a process called IPM to guide our decisions on when and how to spray. As part of this guidance, we only spray when necessary to protect our trees and our crop!

Integrated Pest Management (IPM) is a pest management strategy that uses a tiered approach to managing insect and disease pests. This tactic utilizes pesticides as a last resort to managing pests in an agricultural setting. At LynOaken Farms, our IPM approach includes

Utilizing a crop consultant to inform us of regional trends in disease

Insect traps to keep a close eye on what pest insects are actually present in our orchards and if they are in high enough numbers to warrant treatment

Good cultural practices like precise pruning and mowing to keep pests in check

Protecting habitat for beneficial insects

Monitoring weather patterns to track disease likelihood and insect life cycles.

When and if all of those indicators signal that a pest is likely to cause significant damage, we will use specific pesticides to precisely target that particular pest.

No need! Because we sell by the standard market volume (half peck, peck, half bushel, and bushel) and not by the pound, we sell you our empty standardized bags in whichever size you prefer and you pick into those bags. If you have a market sized half bushel or bushel basket, you are welcome to pick into that, we just ask that you bring it to the counter first to pay before heading out to the orchard.

Nope! The only price difference is between our Specialty Apples (premium varieties like Honeycrisp, SweeTango, SnapDragon, RubyFrost, and EverCrisp - most of which are not available for picking) and our Classic Apples (all other varieties).

We love dogs! Unfortunately, because of our GAP (Good Agricultural Practices) certification, we cannot allow animals where we grow fruit. Pets are allowed in our common lawn areas (leashed and picked up after!), but not in the orchard itself.

We’ll have baked goods (while they last!), grab and go snacks, and occasionally food trucks (stay tuned to social media for those updates), but we do not have a restaurant on-site. Bring a picnic or plan to visit one of our amazing local food establishments nearby. Oh- and there are apples to eat!

You should ALWAYS refrigerate apples if you can. All fruit gives off ethylene gas – it’s what makes fruit ripen both before and after harvest. Apples are picked at peak ripeness, and post-harvest ripening will only make them soft and not as tasty. Refrigeration slows that process and will keep your apples as fresh and crunchy as possible! If you don’t have room in your refrigerator, keep the apples as cool as possible without freezing – a cool basement, garage, pantry, etc. And if you do end up with softer apples than you prefer to eat fresh, those are the first ones you can use for apple sauce, apple pies, apple butter, or whatever apple delicacy you love most!

Each variety has its own ideal picking time. The apples of any given variety are only pickable for an average window of 1-2 weeks. Before that time they will be under-ripe and starchy or sour, after that time they can be over-ripe and too soft. Our Upick orchard is set up in general order of ripening times, so if you come earlier in the season you’ll be picking apples closer to the start of the orchard and by the end of the season, you’ll be picking apples on rows towards the far end of the orchard. Look for the green or yellow wooden squares right above the variety name in the orchard for the rows that are available to pick when you come visit (traffic light rules … green wooden square means ripe right now, yellow wooden square means almost there, and red wooden square means not ripe yet). Check our social media pages (facebook and Instagram) for the most up-to-date variety information.

We set our Upick variety schedule early in August based on our projections of when each variety will be ripe. Those dates are always subject to change based on weather (warm temps will shorten the amount of time the apples are able to hang on the trees before dropping) and amount of pickers (if we have a really busy Saturday, a variety could get picked completely clean in one day!). Those variables are impossible to predict, so we ask that Upickers be flexible with their expectations! We will have some apples available to pick in the orchard for that fun fall experience, and if you miss your favorite variety in the orchard, you should be able to purchase them from our pre-picked bins (coming from our orchards in Lyndonville) in our sales pavilion. Check our social media (facebook and Instagram) pages for the most up-to-date variety information or call 585-798-1060

We do have a fleet of wagons available for you to use, but they are available first come-first served. During busy times, they can all be in use, so if you have your own wagon you may want to bring it!

No! Because we’re located right along Ridge Rd, the soil is very sandy and rain quickly drains through the soil. Rain and condensation can make the grass wet so you may still want to wear your boots, but very very rarely is the orchard muddy.